We continue our Employ.ed on Campus series with our third blog from Holly Ng, Psychology and Business student who spent the summer as a Communications and Marketing intern, in the Human Resources (HR) Talent and Development Team.
Introducing Holly
Hi, I’m Holly! I’ve recently started final year (very scary!) of my Psychology and Business degree. In this blog, I will be reflecting on my experience as Communications and Marketing Employ.ed on Campus Intern, in the HR Talent and Development Team at the University.
Employ.ed on Campus internship – how it started
I found out about the Employ.ed on Campus Internship Programme through multiple emails. It was perfect timing, because I was in the midst of applying to various internships. Being in my penultimate year at University, I was eager to gain work experience and get a better sense of what full-time employment would be like, as I had little idea of what it entailed. I felt that interning at the University was a great opportunity because, as a student, I was already familiar with the organisation. However, I was excited to experience a different side of the University with the people working ‘behind the scenes’.
I really enjoyed the variety and the people were great to work with
Coming into my role, I didn’t know what to expect; I had no idea what the HR Talent and Development team did. Now I know that they are the team who support the development of staff through running leadership programmes, offering online learning resources and much more.
During my internship, I had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects with different team members. I enjoyed the variety of the work, for example: I interviewed staff, wrote communications, redesigned toolkits and researched learning resources. Working in a larger team of 12 people was a particularly rewarding experience. I found it fascinating to be surrounded by such a wide range of ideas and it was great to be able to get feedback from different people.
One of the key projects I worked on was a communications audit. Initially, I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did, but it turned out to be really interesting. Through this project, I gained valuable insights into the University from a staff perspective. I was conducting the audit because communication across the University is challenging due to over 18,000 staff members spread across various colleges and departments. The goal of my project was to identify the most effective ways for Talent and Development to communicate with staff.
To achieve this, I interviewed colleagues to gather their opinions on different communication channels, analysed data on the reach and engagement of these channels, and considered the various purposes for communicating with staff. I compiled my findings into a communications guide for my team and offered suggestions on the best channels to use for different types of messages. Following the completion of this project, I was invited to present my insights on the “All HR staff call”, which had an audience of around 100 people.
My internship takeaways
During my internship I got to develop valuable skills that I will be able to apply to future employment opportunities. These are the key skills I focused on developing:
- Networking – the University is a perfect place to do this because there are over 18,000 staff! I learnt that networking doesn’t have to be scary; it can be as casual as the little chats in the office. It also helped that everyone at the University was so friendly and willing to help!
- Using my initiative – I was able to develop this by leading on multiple projects. I found that asking lots of questions, learning from colleagues and brainstorming with my team was very helpful in ensuring I made informed decisions to push projects forward.
- Professionalism – I have never worked a 9-5 before, so I definitely had to learn how to adjust to working life. I didn’t expect it to be so tiring!
My tips for future Employ.ed on Campus interns
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions – everyone is super nice and asking questions is how you learn.
- Make connections – I think building your network is one of the key parts of an internship! It is the perfect opportunity to build your confidence with this!
- Create a good work-life balance – it is summer after all! I tried to meet up with friends after work; it was really nice to do something different.
- Take opportunities – offer your help to members of your team; you never know what good could come of it!
Thanks Holly for your fantastic contribution.
We hope you are enjoying our series of Employ.ed on Campus student guest blogs… look out for our next Employ.ed on Campus blog coming soon.
